Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm didn't wait long to make a nearly $1 million donation to a group supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after he became one of Romney's top energy advisers in March. Just weeks after Hamm joined the Romney campaign, he gave $985,000 to a pro-Romney super PAC, according to campaign reports.

Mitt Romney is wading into a new policy arena - the nation's education system - as he broadens his focus to appeal to general election voters still getting to know President Barack Obama's likely opponent.

SAN DIEGO ---- Nate Kaeding was at Chargers Park late Monday morning, doing box jumps a track star would be proud of. The Chargers kicker can flat elevate, using the lower body power and spring expected of a player at his position.

On a recent evening on Baku's seaside promenade, throbbing Euro-dance music blared out from an open-air concert as families strolled by. Cafes serving fragrant skewered meat served throngs of locals and foreigners.

Officials say there is no evidence a US Airways jet traveling from Paris to North Carolina was ever in danger after it was diverted to Maine because a passenger handed a note to a flight attendant saying she had a surgically implanted device.

The leaders of the 27 countries that make up the European Union are to meet in Brussels on Wednesday to try and find a way to keep the debt crisis in Europe from spiraling out of control and promote jobs and growth.

On Wednesday, Egypt began its first free presidential election since it came under dictatorship 60 years ago. The winner will succeed Hosni Mubarak, one of four rulers toppled in the uprisings that began 18 months ago across the Middle East and became known as the Arab Spring. But replacing dictatorships with democracy is proving much harder. Here's where things stand:

Egyptians on Wednesday and Thursday vote to elect their first president since the fall of Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011 after 29 years of his authoritarian rule. A second round is likely to be held between the two top vote-getters on June 16-17. Here is a look at what's at stake in the election.

A fast-moving wildfire erupted in a rural neighborhood near the Nevada-California line and destroyed two homes but no injuries have been reported and the danger from what one frightened resident described as a "wall of fire" was subsiding.

A branch of city governments China set up to monitor everything from unlicensed street vendors to unauthorized construction is rife with abuse of power, stoking already high social tensions, a rights group said Wednesday.

Determined to end decades of authoritarian rule, millions of Egyptians on Wednesday waited patiently in long lines outside polling stations across the nation to freely chose their first president since last year's ouster of longtime ruler and close U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak.

Nepal's government wants the repeatedly extended Constituent Assembly to get yet another three months to finish writing the Himalayan nation's constitution, and even members of the ruling parties are crying foul.

A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a compound in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing four suspected militants in an attack that comes as Washington is running out of patience with Islamabad's refusal to reopen supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

A Chinese immigrant who beheaded and cannibalized a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in western Canada four years ago thought he was attacking an alien, according to a mental health advocate who interviewed him.

A Los Angeles company had about $100,000 worth of camera and video equipment stolen that was going to be used for a SeaWorld San Diego television media event Wednesday, and the firm is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

A European envoy held out a possible compromise in a fight with China over carbon emissions charges on airlines, saying Wednesday that Europe might alter its system if Beijing helps negotiate global regulations.

Palomar Elementary teacher wins grant to pay for trees

Wanting to spark her students’ curiosity about the environment and deciding her school’s playground desperately needed a makeover, Palomar Elementary School teacher Mary Anne Arabia took one step in the hopes of accomplishing both goals. She entered a sweepstakes contest — and won.

Plans call for adding 10th, 11th, 12th grades in future

The Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School is adding a ninth grade, making it the first institution in the Chula Vista Elementary School District to step into the high school arena. About 90 students are expected to form the new freshman class when the 2012-13 school year begins July 25.

As more of America's children are raised by relatives other than their parents, state and local governments need to do better in helping these families cope with an array of financial and emotional challenges, a new report concludes.

It took Matt Harrison nearly three dozen pitches just to get the first three outs, only to cruise through the next six innings. Two of Texas' four hits all night came in a two-pitch sequence. Josh Hamilton's biggest contribution wasn't at the plate, but two tremendous run-saving catches in the field.

The state of Hawaii has verified President Barack Obama's birth records to Arizona's elections chief after a nearly three-month back and forth that Arizona officials said could have ended without the incumbent's name on its November ballot.

Jumping at the chance to add a recreation facility for active seniors and families, the Temecula City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to purchase the YMCA building on Margarita Road for $1.6 million.